Chapter 3

Bad News

Lauren Todd's building was nice. It was in a good part of town and seemed rather cheerful, that is until you walked upstairs and saw the police tape outside her door.

An officer stood in the hall, and Nikki showed him her ID before stepping through the door with Harry following close behind. They split up to take a look around and Nikki found herself in the kitchen. Even though she knew a crew had already been through, she was still impressed with how tidy things were. The dishes were in the cupboards, the food in the fridge. It was as if someone would come home at any moment and get started on dinner. Of course, Lauren Todd wasn't coming home.

Harry, meanwhile, had wandered into the bedroom. A cork board hung on the wall next to the door, and was covered in pictures of animals. Scanning his eyes across the papers, Harry paused and leaned in. It was a page cut out of a newspaper that had caught his attention, a story about chimpanzee smuggling in Africa.

"Have your sharp eyes found anything yet?" Nikki's voice came from the doorway.

He glanced sideways and straightened. "Nothing to do with our zoo." Moving to a desk at the side of the room, he opened a drawer and started rummaging around. "You'd think if she was doing a story on the zoo, then she'd have some notes or something, but there's nothing."

Nikki made a noise of agreement and crouched down to look under the bed. Turning around, Harry watched as she sat back on her heels and wiped some hair out of her face before checking under the mattress. Her hand stopped abruptly and she frowned.

"What?" Harry asked.

"I think there's something under here."

At her words, he hurried over and lifted up the mattress. Nikki's face fell when she saw there was nothing there. Harry was about to let it drop back down, but she turned her head to look up at the bottom. She reached up and searched under the edge of the sheet.

"Very clever," Harry observed as she brought out a small notebook. Nikki opened it as he dropped the mattress and stood up to show him.

Illegal chimp breeding/selling. Possible buyers: David Fairburn, John Miller, Connie Hooper.

"Well, there are some clues for you," she grinned.

Harry agreed, saying, "It seems she might not have been investigating the state of the zoo after all," Taking his mobile from his pocket, he headed for the door. "I'm going to call Curtis and tell him to meet us back at the lab."

Nikki followed him out slowly, still looking through the notebook. That was the only page that was used. All the rest were blank. As she was flipping through, something slipped out of the back and drifted to the floor.

"Harry," she called.

Ending his call, he poked his head around the corner and saw the pictures in her hand. "Where'd you get those?" he asked, hurrying back to take a look.

"They fell out of the back," she said as she held them up. The first was of a large delivery van at the back gate of the zoo, and the other was the same scene with the owner and another man standing in front of the truck.

"He's facing away from the camera," Harry grumbled. "Just our luck." He sighed loudly, but gave a quick shrug. "Oh well. Come on, Curtis will want to see these as well."

DI Curtis had been late, but Harry was glad, because while he was waiting, he'd enhanced the pictures. "Here is where you should focus your attention," he said, pointing to the screen as the pictures came up.

"Aha," Curtis nodded happily. "Now we're getting somewhere. I'll get that number plate checked right away. Good find, Nikki." She smiled from her seat and watched in amusement as he marched off with his mobile already stuck to his ear. "Oh, and I'll also let you know as soon as I can what we find about those three names," he called over his shoulder.

Nikki placed her chin in her hands and grinned up at Harry. "You're looking pleased," she commented.

"That probably has something to do with the fact that I am," he replied with a pointed look before disappearing after Curtis.

Another morning dawned, and with it, another early arrival of Harry. When he caught Nikki and Leo exchanging a curious glance, he explained before they could make some sort of teasing comment. "DI Curtis rang me earlier. He found the owner of the delivery van and has gone to pay him a visit."

"That still isn't really a reason for you to be here so early," Leo remarked with a smile.

Harry sent him a withering look. "I couldn't have just gone back to bed, could I?"

"Well," Leo shrugged, flipping through the file he was holding. "I'm glad this case isn't putting you to sleep, Harry. And seeing as you're here early and have nothing else to do, why don't you get started on that dusty pile of reports on your desk."

Looking between his boss and the dusty reports in question, Harry tried to make an excuse. "Nikki's in the way."

Nikki looked up innocently from where she'd once again, taken over his desk. "Oh, don't worry," she smiled slyly. "I'm happy to move." And just like that, she quickly gathered up all her stuff and shifted to sit on her side.

"Why is this the only time I can get you to use your own desk?" Harry muttered under his breath as he fell heavily into his seat and picked up a pen.

Leo glanced up from his desk as Harry stepped into his office, a troubled look on his face. "Something wrong?" he asked as his friend wandered farther in, eyes glued to his mobile.

"Yeah," Harry muttered. "Has DI Curtis called the lab?"

Shaking his head slowly, Leo leaned back in his chair. "Why? Was he going to?"

"He said he'd ring me as soon as he talks to that bloke, Conner Wilson, the delivery van driver." Harry paused, still looking through his phone to make sure he hadn't missed the call. "That was hours ago. You don't think something's happened, do you?"

"I'm sure everything's fine, Harry," Leo said, trying to calm him. "Why don't you call the station, see if he's there," he suggested.

"I already did," Harry frowned, crossing his arms. "No one's seen him since this morning."

The two fell silent at a buzz. Harry exchanged a glance with his boss before rushing out to get the door. A tall, well-dressed man with a solemn face and greying hair stepped in and shook his hand. "Harry Cunningham?" Harry nodded. "I'm Detective Inspector Nathan Sadler." Still rather confused, Harry led him in and waited for him to speak. "I'm afraid I have some bad news," he began, pausing as Nikki looked up from her desk and exchanged a worried glance with Harry. "DI Curtis has gone missing."